1. Field of the Invention
This invention resides in the field of golf putting practice devices and more particularly relates to a box that opens and has a mat therein that extends outside the box along which a golf ball can be putted into a portion of the box containing an aperture acting as a cup for receipt of the golf ball.
2. History of the Prior Art
Golf putting practice devices are well known in the prior art. They usually consist of a mat on which a golf ball is putted which leads to a structure having a cup for receipt of the golf ball. Currently the Applicant is aware of the following prior art that relates to box-type structures for practicing golf putting, the first being U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,243 to Kenney entitled Putting Cup Arrangement for Golf Practice. In the device of this patent a box that is shaped like a book has an openable lid which extends downward from the side of the box toward the ground surface on which the box is placed and an inset portion having an aperture formed therein for receipt of the golf ball when putted up the inner surface of the lid which is disposed at an angle to the book-like structure. The problem with this device is that since the angle of the lid is determined by the height of the side of the book-like structure, the golf ball must go up a steep incline or ramp before it gets to the surface where the hole forming the cup is located. This steep incline means the ball must be hit hard to get it up the ramp. A similar arrangement is found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,235,880 to Guier entitled Apparatus and Method of Packaging Golf Balls where the golf ball box lid comes off the box and has an aperture formed therein acting as a cup. Such lid is disposed at an angle to the box with a portion of the lid resting on the ground surface. One must then putt up the steep incline of the box lid to get the ball into the aperture where it then falls into the box. Again the steepness of the incline of the lid creates an unnatural situation where one must putt much harder than one normally would to have the golf ball travel up the incline to fall into the aperture.